


Uncle Mick Comes To Town.

by GachMoBrea



Series: The Unexpected Series [10]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Gen, Neighbors, OOC, Out of Character, Protective Barry, Wentworth Brings Everyone Together, friends - Freeform, present, secret meetings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-18
Updated: 2016-04-18
Packaged: 2018-06-02 23:15:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6586789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GachMoBrea/pseuds/GachMoBrea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Barry sees a mysterious figure approach the Snart house. <br/>He's not going to sit idly by, but he never would have guessed who it was.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Uncle Mick Comes To Town.

Having the Snarts as neighbors was an interesting experience. For one, Barry had more time with Wentworth, which was great and they could keep an eye out for each other, which was convenient, especially when there were middle schoolers trying to egg the community. The Flash couldn't really do anything about the eggers, but one icy glare from Len was enough to send them running for the hills.   
So, when a mysterious figure made his way towards the back of the Snart's house, Barry was in the perfect position to notice.   
There wasn't time to change into The Flash suit, so Barry sped over in his regular clothes. The stranger wasn't in the back, he must've already snuck in the house. Barry knew Len and Wentworth were home, their son was getting over a cold and Len was playing nursemaid. Barry was in the house a second later, the back door unlocked, and searching for the intruder. 

He didn't expect to come fact to face with Mick Rory.

"You," Barry breathes, mind spinning with all the reasons why the criminal would be in Len's house. Were they still working together? Was Mick out for revenge?  
Mick looks at him, confused. There's a messily wrapped package under his arms.  
"Who are you?" the criminal asks Barry, "Why are you in Snart's house?"  
"I'm-" His friend? His new partner? "his neighbor."  
"Is that so?" Mick smiles, "Is it customary for people to break into their neighbor's houses?"  
"You broke in first!" Barry accuses.  
"Actually," Len drawls as he comes down the stairs, Wentworth in his arms, "I invited him." When Len reaches the bottom he looks to Mick, "I told you to take the back alley."  
"Why should I have to smell garbage?" Mick huffs, "It's not my problem if you have nosey neighbors."  
'I'm not nosey, I'm concerned about strangers breaking in to other people's houses!' Barry wants to tell the other man, but refrains. Wentworth is smiling at Mick with that 'you're my best friend' smile that Barry loves, so it's clearly not the first time his son has seen the criminal.  
"Mick, do you think you could give me and my nosey neighbor a minute?" Len asks, putting their son down so he can take the criminal's hand.  
"Sure," Mick shrugs, "Have your little pow-wow."  
Wentworth leads Mick to the living room while Len takes Barry by the elbow and guides him to the kitchen. Once they're out of earshot, Barry pounces first.  
"What were you thinking?" he hisses at Len, "You invited a known criminal into your home? And why does our son seem so familiar with him?"  
"I was a known criminal at one time," Len reminds the speedster, "Not all of us criminals are murdering monsters, you know."  
Barry does know, "That doesn't change the fact you're purposely allowing a pyromaniac near our little boy."  
"So I should've waited until he was older?" Len quips, but he raises a hand to stop Barry from commenting, "Mick's my old partner, Barry, he's known me a lot longer than I've known you. I can trust him."  
"Yeah, right," Barry scoffs, he leans around the wall and looks over to where he son is playing with the criminal. His jaw slackens when he sees the large man being gentle with the boy, playing patty cake with Leo the lion as if it's something he's done a thousand times.  
"Mick is big and brawny and yes, he likes fire," Len explains to Barry's shocked face, "But the man's got a gentle side to him that only the rare few get to see."  
Wentworth giggles as Mick tickles him, sending the toddler to the floor red faced an happy. It's absolutely amazing to Barry.  
"Mick already knew about Wentworth, Barry," Len continues, "We've kept in contact. I've been keeping tabs on him. He's come around every now and then and, well, if Wentworth isn't going to show him the door I'm not going to."

Barry turns his attention back to Len. He had his suspicions but now was the perfect time to know for sure, "Was Mick responsible for killing your kidnapper?"  
'Scorch marks not related to the explosion marking the outside of the building' was weak and not really much to go on, but Barry had always suspected it might be Mick. He just hadn't figured out how or why the man could've known about the place.  
Len looks him straight in the eye and answers, "Yes."  
Barry releases a breath, not knowing if Len was going to lie to him or not. He hoped he wouldn't but a shameful part of his brain still thought that the other man would.

The speedster looks back to the pair in the living room. Wentworth is on top of Mick now, tackling him to the ground in a mock fight. Mick is chuckling, a deep noise from his chest that reaches Barry in the other room. There's no sign of the criminal Heat Wave in this version of Mick. Just a man playing with a little boy in a living room.  
Len's soft voice breaks into Barry's thoughts, "The overall intent is to balance the intimate connections of a small nuclear family with continued meaningful contacts with loved ones outside the immediate family."  
Barry turns a curious expression to the other man.  
"This family is the most nuclear one I have ever known," Len adds with a smirk.

'Family.' That's what they were. Len had called them that before but Barry hadn't really given it too much thought. They were more than friends, beyond partners...   
Companion, confidante, workmate, ally, associate, chum, buddy, colleague, associate, collaborator, comrade, teammate, compeer-They were all the wrong word.  
Family, though, family felt right.

Barry smiles at Len, a tight feeling in his chest trying to take his breath away as it warms him at the same time, "You're right. We are a family."  
Len visibly relaxes at his words, but Barry isn't done yet.  
"There is one thing though," Barry points out, "We need to make big decisions like this together from now on. No more sneaking in old friends who are secretly good with kids behind my back."  
"I can respect that," Len tilts his head to the side, "As long as that applies to you too."  
"Family rules go both ways," Barry nods, "I won't bring Worthy around any of my friends without your permission-"  
"And I won't sneak any of mine around to see him either." Len finishes, "Though there isn't much of a point since Mick is the only one."  
"Are you two ladies done yet?" Mick calls out from the living room, "I want Snart to see Worthy's face when he opens his gift."  
Len rolls his eyes comically to Barry as the two of them walk into the living room. Their son is holding the poorly wrapped package in his hands while he sits next to Mick. He looks over to the criminal as they approach.  
"Yeah, go ahead now," Mick smiles at the boy's questioning eyes.  
Wentworth tears at the wrapping and finds a flashlight shaped as a torch inside. The little boy pushes a button and the torch 'lights up.' He cheers, throwing his arms around Mick and saying, "Ta, Unc Mik!"  
"Uncle Mick?" Barry guesses, whispering to Len.   
Len smirks and whispers back, "What else should he call him?"  
Wentworth runs off to the darker corners of the house to test out his new torch. Mick stands and levels a glare at Barry.  
"Do we have a problem?" the criminal asks, posture on the defensive.  
"Nope," Barry shakes his head, "We are good."  
Mick sneers, "I doubt that," he turns his attention to Len, "I'm surprised Lisa hasn't thrown another party for the little spit-fire."  
"She's been busy," Len shrugs.  
"Hopefully not chasing after that long haired brain boy," Mick frowns, "You should tell her to dump him."  
Barry's hackles rise, wanting to jump in and defend his friend. Len beats him to it.  
"Cisco is proving to be a good influence on her," he drawls, "Besides, she likes the little nerd."  
Mick grunts, but it might've been a laugh, "Just let me know if I need to have a talk with him."  
"Will do," Len smirks. Barry's fairly certain he knows how that little 'talk' would go. He's glad Len is on their side now. He shudders to think how things would be if his friend was dating Lisa with their old hero-fighting-criminal relationship.

Barry stays at the house and the three men talk about their lives and pasts. Mick laughs when he hears Barry is a CSI. The speedster pretends that he doesn't know the other man's a wanted criminal. Len and Mick share vaguely detailed accounts of 'jobs' they did together, never letting slip how not-so-legal those jobs were.  
Wentworth joins in later and manages to get three grown men to play hide-and-seek with him. One secret hero, an ex-criminal turned hero and a current criminal walk into a house....To play hide-and-seek with a two year old.  
Barry gives himself away as he laughs from the closet.

**Author's Note:**

> *{If you haven't noticed it out yet, Wentworth has a super power. He has the ability to melt the hearts of everyone around him, with his overwhelming cute-ness.}*
> 
> P.S. Mick doesn't know Barry's alter-ego. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own the show, nor the characters.


End file.
